After sending the unconscious man to Tom, we were able to hear the full story from the remaining two.
I had heard a bit of it when I went to Earth, but it seemed the second follow-up contingent, which had been in training, had been disbanded with the end of the war.
The people who had come here were three instructors who had trained the second follow-up contingent, and one member of that contingent.
“We originally intended to take our time and gather them again, but the general and the deputy director at the base opposed it. They said that since there had been casualties among the Korean advance party and the follow-up party, they had to send at least the instructors.”
Staff Sergeant Han, the man who had called me a monster, explained the situation in detail.
I did not know what he had heard, but he spoke to me politely.
His explanation made sense. Now that the war was over, there was no way the people who had been forcibly conscripted would just sit still.
However, there was something I did not understand.
“But what was that about teaching me a lesson?”
At my question, Staff Sergeant Han’s eyebrow twitched.
“That was because those sons of bitches…”
According to Staff Sergeant Han, that too had been ordered by the general and the deputy director.
“Both of them wanted Sergeant Hyeon disciplined. They didn’t say to kill him, but in any case, they wanted him made to listen to them.”
Master Sergeant Woo, who had been listening silently, added to Staff Sergeant Han’s words.
“The general was acting on emotion, and the deputy director wanted something.”
It seemed the general simply disliked me, and perhaps the deputy director wanted to redo the contract?
I could not know exactly what either of them wanted, but it did not seem like something I needed to find out right now.
At that moment, Margreta, who had been listening through the translation artifact, said with a hardened face,
“When I go to Earth, I’ll lodge a formal protest.”
I shook my head at her words.
“You don’t have to. I’ll handle this myself.”
This was not something to leave to someone else.
Nor was it something to handle officially.
After hearing me, Master Sergeant Woo clicked his tongue quietly.
“That’s unfortunate. Handling it officially would be better for those two.”
At Master Sergeant Woo’s words, Margreta looked at me with startled eyes.
“You don’t have to worry. They didn’t tell them to kill me, so I intend to respond at that level.”
“Thinking back on the old days, I feel like dying might be preferable…”
Master Sergeant Woo butted in again.
I understood why he would say that.
During an operation I had carried out with him, I had gone on quite a rampage.
But Master Sergeant Woo had the wrong idea about me.
The people I dealt with back then were enemies, and this time, whatever else they might be, they were allies.
There was no way I would treat allies the same way I treated enemies.
Besides, I had magic now, so there were plenty of ways to respond.
After hearing the story, Margreta and Hanna were more curious about my past than angry.
“It’s classified, so I can’t talk about it.”
I could not speak about the contents of the operation.
It was a matter of security, but it was also not a pleasant story for the two of them to hear.
After we finished talking, we left the cave.
A large number of people had gathered in the base’s front yard.
Aside from the hunting teams that had not yet returned, it seemed everyone was there.
David stood before them, giving a speech.
“…All this time, we’ve heard many complaints that the forward base’s defenses were lacking. The advance party and I knew that as well, but we couldn’t build defensive facilities because we had no materials. Fortunately, we have acquired materials this time.”
As expected, David was a seasoned political officer who never missed an opportunity.
To think he would make use of my achievement like that.
It was almost impressive.
I went to the place he indicated, then took stone materials out of the box.
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.
Huge stones piled up one after another before the people.
“Those huge stones were inside that little box? How is that possible?”
“Is it magic?”
Some people looked back and forth between me and the growing pile of stone with bewildered eyes.
“That’s the person who got pulled over to the advance party, right? I wondered what a box carrier was, but that’s a more impressive ability than I expected.”
Others looked at me with meaningful eyes.
Like that, people were looking at me in all sorts of ways, but as time passed, all their expressions became the same.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
“But why does it keep coming out? Just how much is in there?”
They all looked up in astonishment at the stone materials that continued to pile up.
It was not only the follow-up party that was surprised. The expressions of the advance party changed as well.
Thud.
When I stopped taking stone out of the box, David immediately opened his mouth.
“Starting today, we’ll begin construction of a defensive wall using these stones. Aside from the hunting teams, everyone is to prioritize building the wall.”
At his orders, the people grumbled but began carrying the stone materials.
The new work was troublesome, but everyone knew that a defensive wall was necessary.
While people gathered around the pile of stone, I picked up the box and returned to where my companions were.
When I came back, Master Sergeant Woo pointed at the box and asked,
“Was that box what the general and the deputy director wanted?”
“Similar, but there’s something else.”
What the deputy director wanted was not the box, but the transport rights between this planet and Earth.
“So you have other abilities besides that… I can see why those two on Earth would get greedy.”
At those words, I asked casually,
“Are you feeling greedy too, Master Sergeant Woo?”
“I am. Even when you didn’t have an ability like this, I could come back alive as long as I stuck close to you. But now that you’ve gained an ability like this too, of course I’d get greedy.”
It seemed his greed was different from that of the two people on Earth.
When Master Sergeant Woo looked at me, Hanna and Margreta stepped in front of me.
“You can’t have Myeonghan-oppa.”
“If you want to mooch off him, get in line.”
The two of them blocked my way for entirely different reasons, but Soph did not care.
[So you don’t discriminate by age, eh? In this regard, you might even be better than me… Though in another year or two, the younger one will more or less enter range too.]
His nonsense was evolving more and more.
We had no heavy machinery, but thanks to the people who had obtained dark energy working together, construction proceeded quickly.
It was the same for digging up the ground, setting the foundation with iron pillars, and stacking stones.
There was no need for me or the exploration team to help.
Instead, we had to bring more materials quickly.
There was no time to rest.
The exploration team decided to depart the very next day.
Early the next morning, we gathered in front of the cave.
Margreta was there too, but she could not go with us this time.
She had to go to Earth today.
“Even if I go to Earth and come back, there won’t be any gifts. Unlike Hyeon, I can only bring one small bag.”
Everyone laughed at her lively farewell.
“Instead, I’ll bring back plenty of stories, so look forward to it. Hyeon, you look forward to it too. Next time, you’ll have to come with me to meet my superiors.”
If they were her superiors, did she mean the head of the Geospatial Intelligence Bureau?
Or someone from the State Department?
Either way, I had to meet them at least once.
I had made a contract with Margreta, but it would be better for both sides to receive a firm answer from her superiors.
Besides, I had to secure money and obtain information.
In exchange, I also had to prepare by then.
At the very least, I needed to establish enough standing on this planet that they could not touch me carelessly.
For now, that was my goal.
‘If there’s no other way, I’ll just expose everything.’
[Surely you don’t mean you’ll talk about me?]
It was not as though I had not considered it.
But I intended to leave that until the very end.
There were other things I could detonate besides Soph.
[There’s the terraforming research institute, after all. If they won’t listen, I’m thinking of threatening to shut down the research institute.]
At my words, Soph asked cautiously,
[…You do mean only threatening them, right?]
Since that was unlike him, I answered him clearly.
[Of course. Only threatening.]
[…]
Soph said nothing to my firm answer.
Unaware of that situation, Margreta exchanged farewells with the others as well.
“Take good care of Hyeon.”
“Don’t worry.”
She faced Hanna and nodded.
“Tom, Smith, and Mr. Ha, all of you take care too.”
She waved to Tom, the blacksmith, and the heat ability user as well.
Lastly, she glared at Master Sergeant Woo.
“You haven’t become a formal member yet. I’ll check when I get back.”
Her words were prickly, but Master Sergeant Woo saluted Margreta with a composed expression.
“I’ll do my best, ma’am.”
As Margreta had said, Master Sergeant Woo had become a temporary member of the exploration team.
With Margreta absent this time, there would be only three exploration team members left.
We were taking along two noncombat personnel, and three explorers were too few.
Margreta and Hanna did not like Master Sergeant Woo, but there was no helping it.
“We looked through the follow-up party, but there was no one better than Master Sergeant Woo.”
We had checked the follow-up members one by one and had even gone hunting with the hunting teams at night.
But among them, there was no one who truly knew how to fight.
The member of the second follow-up contingent whom I had not seen before was not a combatant either.
The special forces soldiers who had come with Master Sergeant Woo were decent too, but compared to Master Sergeant Woo, both of them fell short.
On top of that, the day after Master Sergeant Woo arrived on this planet, he sensed dark energy.
Master Sergeant Woo was also skilled at reading the room.
He immediately grasped the power dynamics within our exploration team and showed Margreta a display of loyalty.
In the end, Margreta merely warned him and did not oppose him becoming a temporary member.
With Margreta seeing us off, we left the base.
When I looked back at the base, the outline of the defensive wall was already visible.
They had only just started stacking stones on the foundation, but at this pace, the materials would run out in a few days.
“We’ll have to hurry.”
“As long as nothing dangerous happens, we won’t be delayed either.”
At my words, Smith answered confidently.
The blacksmith and the heat ability user were both people with dark energy.
Even if it was not a special ability, both of them had better stamina than ordinary people.
“Don’t worry. We’ll protect you.”
I made that promise to the two of them, but unfortunately, the promise did not last long.
Two days later, we encountered a swarm of monsters rushing toward us.
Absurdly enough, that swarm of monsters was a mixed group of rabbit monsters and ant monsters.
With the pale-faced heat ability user and blacksmith behind us, we drew our weapons.
A bow, metal spears, and shields.
After checking the weapons the team members had drawn, I gripped my stone spear.
Soph spoke faster than usual.
[Aim at the entire ground in front of the path they’re charging down!]
I raised my staff and pointed at the ground ahead.
Soph quickly chanted the spell.
[Be dug. Be pushed aside. Dig!]
Ruuuumble.
A long trench was gouged out in front of us.
The startled people looked at me, but neither Soph nor I had any attention to spare.
It was because of what Soph had said when the monsters appeared.
[The signal came from the materials base! It’s awakened! These creatures are fleeing too!]
A signal had come from the magic cast on the fossil monster.
That meant the control entity of the fossil monster, Akzar, had awakened.
The monsters before us were not the problem.
Nor was this the time to hide my magic.
I pushed energy into the staff until it was filled.
Flash! Kwa-kwa-boom.
A bundle of lightning poured down over the deeply gouged trench.